The Treacle Tart Fiasco
by shana852963
Summary: It's Father's Day, and Harry's children have the perfect idea for a present...until nothing goes according to plan. Luckily a certain blue-haired boy is there to help the children still give their father the perfect gift.


"I've got some brilliant news," Ginny announced, apparating into her and Harry's living room, where her husband was lying on the couch, flipping through the latest issue of _Quidditch Quarterly_.

"What is it?" Harry asked, lowering his magazine as Ginny settled down next to him on the couch, letting his legs fall across her lap.

"I'm covering the Cannons match tomorrow night," Ginny replied.

"Thought you hated covering the Cannons matches," Harry frowned. "You say they're horribly boring."

"Oh they are," Ginny nodded. "But Ron always gets excited and tries to tag along when I have to go to the games, and it just so happens that I was given a guest pass."

"This seems like brilliant news for Ron more than anybody," Harry pointed out.

"And me as well," Ginny said brightly. "See, having that pass gave me a bit of leg up with Ron. You know that mum wanted me and you to help her clean out the attic at the Burrow today, right?"

"Yes, I figured we'd head over there in a little bit," Harry said.

"You can," Ginny smiled. "I used that guest pass to give my place to Ron. So the two of _you_ will be working up in the attic today."

"You couldn't manage to get me out of it too?" Harry frowned.

"Sorry, it's only one pass," Ginny shrugged. "Besides, you've been laying around here all morning! I'm the one who needs the rest."

"Laying around?" Harry scoffed. "I've been watching the kids!"

"Where are they?" Ginny asked, raising an eyebrow. "You don't seem to be doing much watching right now."  
"They're upstairs," Harry said.

"It's awfully quiet up there," Ginny said. "Our kids are never that quiet."

"Well guess they decided to be on their best behavior for me," Harry shrugged. "I checked on them a little while ago; they're all doing something in Albus' room."

"What exactly are they doing?"

"They said they were playing Gobstones," Harry replied.

"The Gobstones are sitting right there!" Ginny exclaimed, pointing to the coffee table, where, in fact, the bag of glass balls was sitting. "And we only have one set!"

"Oh…" Harry said lamely, quickly tossing aside his magazine and getting to his feet. "Well, um, best be getting to the Burrow then. Enjoy your rest!"

"Rest, ha!" Ginny muttered as Harry disapparated. "I can only imagine what mess I have waiting for me up there."

She headed up the stairs and walked over to Albus' door, where she could hear the muffled voices of her children through the door.

"Alright, you three," Ginny said, letting herself into the room. "What are you up to?"

"Mum, you scared us!" James cried. "We thought you might be dad!"

"What are you hiding from your father?" Ginny asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

"We're thinking of ideas for his present!" Lily explained

"Present?" Ginny repeated. "Oh! That's right, Father's Day is next weekend."

"Yeah, and we want to get dad something he'll love," Albus said.

"That's sweet of you," Ginny smiled. "How adorable."

"Mum! I'm seven; you can't call me adorable anymore!" James said, scandalized.

"Sorry, I keep forgetting," Ginny said. "Well, let me hear your ideas so far. I'm sure I can help you."

"No, mummy, we want to do this by ourselves," Lily said firmly. "We didn't let daddy help us with your present for Mother's Day."

Ginny thought back to the lopsided, lumpy, chipped vase the kids had made her just a month earlier. It was one of her most prized possessions.

"Alright, fair enough," Ginny agreed. "Well, I'm sure daddy will love whatever you three make him. I'll leave you all to it then."

"Don't tell dad, okay?" Albus said. "Remember, this is a surprise, mum."

"I won't say a word," Ginny promised, stepping out of the room.

…..

Once Ginny had shut the door, the three Potter children turned their attention back to their task at hand.

"Come on, think!" James said. "What can we make for dad?"

"He wouldn't want a vase like we made mum," Albus said. "Maybe we can make him a paperweight for his desk at work."

"Boring," James scoffed.

"Let's make him a new broom!" Lily suggested.

"A broom?" James repeated. "How are we supposed to make him a broom, Lily? Honestly, four-year olds…"

"You think of something then!" Lily huffed.

"Hey, I know!" Albus said suddenly. "I know what dad loves! Treacle Tart!"

"The dessert grandmum always makes him?" James asked.

"Yeah, he always eats a whole tin of it when he can," Albus nodded. "It's his favorite dessert! We can make an extra-big batch all for him for Father's Day!"

"Yeah!" James exclaimed. "He'll love that!"

"We can borrow the recipe from grandmum," Lily suggested. "And make it for him first thing in the morning on Father's Day."

"Brilliant, we've got a plan," James said, clapping his hands together. "This is going to be the best Father's Day ever!"

…..

"How much sugar are we supposed to use again?" Albus asked the morning of Father's Day.

"Grandmum's recipe says two cups," James replied. "But let's use four."

"How come?" Lily asked.

"Because the more sugar we add, the better it will taste," James pointed out.

"Oh, right," Lily nodded. "What's the next ingredient?"

"We need some lemon," Albus replied. "Er…do we have any? Check the fridge, James."

"Uh-oh, no lemons," James moaned as he opened the refrigerator door. "We have pears. Will that work?"

"I think so," Lily decided.

"Just be sure to zest them," Albus said. "That's what the recipe says."

"What's that mean?" James frowned.

"It probably just means we have to pull the stem off," Albus said.

James shrugged and plucked the stem off the pair before tossing the whole fruit into the large mixing bowl. "Is that everything now?"

"I think so," Albus said, checking the recipe again.

"But this doesn't look like the Treacle Tart grandmum makes," Lily said, starting down at the odd concoction.

"Well of course not! We still have to bake it!" James said, picking up the bowl putting it in the oven.

"Wait!" Albus yelled just as James was about to turn the oven on. "We're not allowed to do that!"

"Well how else are we going to bake this?" James said.

"I know! Call Teddy!" Lily said. "He's allowed to turn on the oven!"

"Fine, I'll go use the Floo," James said. "You two finish up the card!"

James ran into the living room and grabbed a handful of Floo Powder from the mantle.

"Tonks home!" James said clearly, throwing the powder into the fireplace. Green flames began to glow, and James stuck his head into the flames just as his parents had shown him how. When he stuck his head into the flames, he was able to see clearly into a familiar-looking sitting room.

"Teddy!" James called loudly. "Teddy!"

"James?" thirteen-year old Teddy Lupin yawned, coming into the room, still in his pajamas. "What do you want at this hour? It's hardly seven o'clock."

"Can you come over and help us finish our Father's Day present?" James asked. "It's nearly done, but we just need help with the oven."

"The oven?" Teddy repeated. "Blimey, what are you three up to over there?"

"We made dad the best Father's Day present ever!" James said proudly. "His favorite dessert; Treacle Tart!"

"Did your mum help you?" Teddy asked slowly.

"Nope!"

"Right," Teddy sighed. "Fine, I'll come and help you. I was just about to come by to give Harry my present as well. Give me a second then."

"Thanks, Teddy!" James said gratefully. He pulled himself up out of the fireplace and hurried back to his brother and sister.

"Teddy's on his way," he announced.

True to his word, Teddy arrived through the Floo network a moment later.

"Teddy! Turn on the stove please!" Lily said as soon as the teen stepped into the kitchen. "Daddy will be awake any minute by now."

"Something tells me he's already awake," Teddy smirked, carefully turning the knob on the stove. "I doubt you've been quiet down here."

"That's okay, we told mum not to let dad come downstairs," Albus informed him.

"Good planning," Teddy chuckled. "So why'd you lot decide to bake for your dad? I'm sure your mum would've taken you into Diagon Ally or something to buy him a present."

"But we wanted to make him something all on our own this year," James said. "Without any help from mum. He's the best dad ever! That's why he needs the best Father's Day ever."

Teddy smiled. "You're right. I'm sure he'll love the Treacle Tart. Er…are you sure you used the right recipe though? It smells a bit…different."

A putrid burning scent began to waft through the kitchen, and Teddy noticed dark fumes of smoke coming from the oven. He quickly ran over and opened the stove up and pulled the mixture out.

"Oh no!" Lily cried, seeing the tart was already burnt to a crisp. The lumps of pears and heaps of sugar were still smoking. "We ruined it!"

"How?" James moaned. "We followed the recipe!"

"Can you fix it, Teddy?" Albus asked anxiously.

"Er, no, sorry guys," Teddy said heavily. "I don't think so."

"But now we don't have a present for daddy!" Lily said, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"We ruined Father's Day!" James said heavily, trying hard to keep from crying himself.

Teddy sighed and looked over at his bag sitting on the kitchen table. "No, you guys didn't," he said, stepping over and opening his bag. He began to rifle inside. "You'll just need to make a new gift."

"We don't have time, though," Albus pointed out.

"You will with my help," Teddy winked. He finally found what he was looking for in his bag. He pulled out a handcrafted wooden frame. Resting inside was a picture of him and Harry from when Teddy was three years old. They were out in the garden, tossing a quaffle back and forth to each other. Teddy had spent two weeks making the frame, without magic, for his godfather. He had been so excited to give it to him…

Carefully, he slid the picture out and set the now-empty frame on the kitchen table.

"Lily, go get your paints and crayons," Teddy instructed her. "The three of you can decorate this frame. I'll go find your mum's camera and I'll take a picture of you to put inside."

"You think he'd like that?" James asked.

"Course, I'll bet he'll put this right on his desk at work," Teddy nodded. "Now go on!"

"Thanks, Teddy!" the three kids called as they scrambled off.

….

"They didn't give you any clue as to what they're doing down there?" Harry asked several mornings later as him and Ginny lay in bed. They winced as they heard another pan drop onto the floor down in the kitchen.

"No, they told me that all they wanted me to do was make sure you didn't go downstairs today," Ginny said.

"Can't they accidently burn down the whole kitchen or something?" Harry frowned.

"Luckily they had enough sense to plan to call Teddy to help them with whatever they're doing," Ginny smiled.

Sure enough, the couple heard their godson's voice.

"Smart of them," Harry commented, leaning back against his pillows.

Nearly twenty minutes later, Harry and Ginny's bedroom door swung open and the three Potter children, as well as Teddy, came into the room.

"Happy Father's Day!" they all exclaimed, Lily running and bouncing onto Harry's lap.

"Ah, what a surprise," Harry grinned as James handed him a tray holding a bowl of cereal. "And what a lovely breakfast in bed."

"That cereal was the safest option," Teddy whispered to Harry.

"Open your present, dad!" Albus said eagerly, thrusting a poorly-wrapped package at Harry. "Go on!"

"Alright, alright," Harry chuckled, pulling the wrappings off. He held up a bright green frame with orange and pink polka-dots. Inside was a picture of his three children, all beaming and waving up at him.

"Do you like it?" James asked. "Teddy helped us make it!"

"I love it," Harry said sincerely, setting it down on his nightstand table. "It will look perfect on my desk."

"Why don't we let your dad finish eating his breakfast up here?" Ginny suggested, pulling on her dressing gown. "We'll need to start getting ready to head over to the Burrow."

After giving their father one last hug each, the Potter children headed out of the room with Ginny, leaving Harry and Teddy alone.

"I, um, forgot your present at Gran's house," Teddy said quickly. "I can run back over and get it and-"

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked. "You gave me a present."

"What are you talking about?" Teddy frowned. "The frame was from James, Al, and Lily. I just helped them."

Harry smirked and picked up the frame again and turned it over. On the back, carved into the wood, read the words: 'Love, Teddy'.

"Oh…" Teddy mumbled. "Forgot about that."

"I'm guessing whatever present those three were trying to put together didn't go according to plan, did it?" Harry said knowingly.

"They tried to make a Treacle Tart," Teddy explained. "And, well, they _did _do their best, but in the end, it wasn't exactly…edible."

"That would explain the burning smell earlier," Harry laughed.

"Yes, well, they were so disappointed that their gift for you got ruined," Teddy continued. "So I just…let them use mine."

"That was very thoughtful of you, Teddy," Harry said. "They're lucky to have a god brother like you in their lives. Do you still have the picture that you were going to put in here, though?"

Teddy reached into his pocket and pulled out the photo of him and Harry and handed it over to his godfather.

Harry looked down at it as a huge smile spread across his face. He set the frame back down on his nightstand and propped Teddy's photo up against it.

"There we go," Harry said, watching his _four _children smile up at him. "Perfect."


End file.
